Automatic long filler feed for cigar machines



March 17, 1942. H. H. WHEELER AUTOMATIC LONG FILLER FEED FOR CIGARMACHINES 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 8, 1937 it l a INVENTOR Jlemyl. W/BY 7 ATTORNEY i 8 NW Q a March 17, 1942. H. H. WHEELER AUTOMATIC LONGFILLER FEED FOR CIGAR MACHINES Filed June 8, 1937 4 Sheets-Sheet 2IllI'll||||l|||l||||||||||l|||l||||I||||||||llllllllllllllllllllllllllllll l lllllllll INVENTOR Jlenr J1. WheeATTORNEY March 17, 1942. H R 2,276,361

AUTOMATIC LONG FILLER FEED FOR CIGAR MACHINES Filed June 8, 1937 4Sheets-Sheet 3 i lllllll f llll'fill March 17, 1942. WHEELER 2,276,361

AUTOMATIC LONG FILLER FEED FOR CIGAR MACHINES Filed June 8, 1957 4Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR Jfizmy BY 7 H I Patented Mar. 17, 1942 TTSAUTOMATIC LONG FILLER FEED FOR CIGAR MACI-HNES Application June 8, 1937,Serial No. 147,022

24 Claims.

7 This invention relates to filler feeds for cigar machines, and moreparticularly to an automatic feed for long filler tobacco for suchmachines.

The conventional manner of feeding long filler tobacco is for anoperator to lay the whole laminae of the filler tobacco leaves by handin the trough of a cross feed, such for instance as that disclosed inthe patent to Bronander, No. 1,740,571, dated December 24, 1929. Withthis type of feeding, the uniformity of the cigars made by the machineis largely dependent upon the uniformity and skill with which theoperator feeds the tobacco leaves. The present invention contemplatesthe feeding of long filler tobacco without this feeding being subject toerror in feeding by the operator and without handling the leavesmanually which formerly was necessary. Since feeding of the long fillerhas required care and uniform laying to obtain uniform cigars, it hasnecessarily been a relatively slow operation, which in the past has beenthe main choke point of the cigar machines and has held up the speed ofoperation of the remaining parts. Hence, one of the objects of theinvention is to speed up the entire cigar machine by rendering automaticand not subject to the limitations of speed of an operator, the criticaloperation of filler feeding.

Thus, the principal objects of the invention are to perform bymechanical means a number of operations to which it has hitherto beenthought impossible to perform except by hand. Among these are thewithdrawing or separating of the leaves individually from a source ofsupply, the straightening and arranging of the leaves with their lengthsextending in the same direction, the approximate weighing of theseleaves, and the depositing of the leaves in the cross feed of the cigarmachine in a sumciently uniform manner to make satisfactory cigars.

Other objects are: to remove surplus leaves entangled with those beingfed without tearing the leaves being fed; to gently and effectivelystrip the leaves from the feeding conveyor without tearing, crumpling,or otherwise injuring the 5 leaf; to first locate the lengths of thesuccessive leaves approximately in one plane and then in a planetransverse to said plane so that successive leaves are similarly alignedAnother important object of the invention is to so coordinate andsynchronize the removal, feeding and delivering of the leaves in thecross feed and with relation to the tobacco used in forming the bunchcharges that there will always be a sufficiency of tobacco fed, butwhenever more tobacco accumulates ahead of the charge forming means thanis needed, the feeding will be checked till more tobacco is called for,whereupon the feeding will be started again.

In carrying out the invention, I have illustrated a somewhat inclinedbutgenerally vertical conveyor which forms one wall of a source of supplyof tobacco. Pins on this conveyor, inclined upwardly, pick up suchleaves as are impaled thereon. Surplus leaves are brushed off by amember rotating in the same direction to avoid tearing of the leaves,since, if an entangled leaf pulls off a leaf on the pins, it will pullin the direction of inclination of the conveyor pins.

The leaves hanging on the pins, which are picked up one, or occasionallya few at a time, tend to hang from one end or the other, or at a slantby gravity against th slightly inclined conveyor, and thus the leaf as awhole and its length tends to lie in a plane parallel to that of theconveyor. This action is due tothe fact that the pins are rather widelyspaced both transversely and longitudinally of the conveyors, so thatonly a few pins are in position to engage the leaf at any one time, andpass through a loose mass of l the long filler tobacco leaves in thehopper l9.

In practice only a few of the pins pick 1p androtain a leaf at any giventime so that generally the leaf is hung from one or two pins. will berelatively rare-that a leaf is impaled close to its center or balancingpoint, the tendency of the leaves on the pins I3 is to swing or hangfrom one end or the other, thus partially aligning the lengths of theleaves in the same general direction. The successive leaves allgenerally in the plane of the conveyor are then gently stripped from thepins on the conveyor in such a manner as to avoid injury to the leaves,by rails which diverge from the conveyor so as to progressively wedgethe leaves off the pins in the direction in which the pins'point.

In the preferred embodiment illustrated, the successive leaves are thenmore fully straightened and aligned by dropping them in an horizontallyelongated open topped chamber, the horizontal.

bottom wall of which is intermittently rotated to receive and dischargethe aligned leaves. A- leaf ejected into the chamber will ordinarily,whether one end or the other falls first, lay in the chamber with itslength extending lengthwise of said chamber.

At some stage, which may be on the discharge from the aligning chamber,the leaves are weighed in order to insure'that approximately the desiredsurplus of leaves shall be deposited; Fur- Since it ther in th chosenembodiment it is contemplated that the measured leaves will be guidedinto the cross feed and held therein against curling, and that feeding,measuring and forwarding of the leaves shall be so coordinated that asurplus of leaves at the weighing point stops the feed and the dwindlingof the supply at another point, as in a column or other supply fromwhich the charges are separated, shall restart the feed.

Other objects and advantages will appear from the ensuing descriptionand claims.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. l is a side elevation of the automatic long filler feed constructedin accordance with the preferred embodiment of the invention, selectedfor illustration;

Fig. 2 is a rear view of the same;

Fig. 3 is a side view of the scale controlled clutch mechanism, togetherwith the connections to the main feed of the cigar machine;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary perspective view of the guide plate with needlesor pins projecting between the slots thereof and illustrates thestaggered relation of the needles carried by the block chain;

Fig. 5 is'a plan View of the cross feed mechanism;

Fig. 6 is a side elevation of the scale pan and cross feed mechanism;

Fig. 7 is an enlarged sectional view of the automatic feed mechanism;

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary rear view of the feed chain;

Fig. 9 is a diagrammatic plan view of my invention, with the overlyingparts including the paddle 25 broken away to show a leaf passing throughthe openingiiia, shown in relation to a cross feed and cigar machine,both of which are indicated by dot and dash lines; and

Fig. 10 is an elevation partly in section of the cross feed shown inFig. 3.

Fig. 11 is a side elevation showing drive and control parts, themaindrive shaft being shown in a modified location.

Referring to Figs. 1, 4, 7 and 8 of the drawings, a frame ll supports aseries of block feed chains, one of which is indicated at l2, whichcarry impaling pins 13, and which travel over a sprocket 14 mountedtogether with a gear IS on the drive shaft lb of the long filler tobaccofeed; The shaft is is driven by drive means controlled from the tobaccomeasuring and forwarding mechanism hereinafter described. The lower endsof the chains l2 are supported by a suitable sprocket "on a shaft l8.

A hopper I9, provided with a cover 28 to keep the tobacco from dryingout too rapidly, is arrangedto hold a supply of long filler tobacco. Itwill be noted that the rear wall of this hopper inclines downwardlytoward the conveyors l2 which, together with the guide plates 23, serveto form the rear wall of a hopper and against which said inclined walltends to push the filler.

The pins l3 of the conveyors I2 are directed somewhat upwardly and asthe pins pass through the receptacle, they impale or engage the adjacentlong filler leaves, and the individual leaves are picked up and carriedon the upwardiy and rearwardly inclined conveyor, with the leaves moreor less separated, since an occasional leaf or sometimes small groups ofleaves will attach themselves here and there along the flights of theconveyor. As the leaves are carried upwardly by the pins, other leavesentangled therewith sometimes follow along and a rotating paddle 22provided with projecting paddle arms or sweeps 2| is furnished whichrotates in a counterclockwise direction but preferably at a greaterperipheral speed than the linear speed of chain l2, as shown in Fig. 1,so that the paddle overtakes and passes the adjacent parts of theconveyor, thus sweeping upwardly and away the surplus leaves. The reasonfor having the paddles move upwardly is to prevent tearing of theleaves, since any surplus leaves partially attached to the upwardlyinclined pins will be more readily removed if carried in the directionof inclination of the pins. The pins are upwardly inclined in order tohave a hooking effect on the leaves so that the'leaves do not readilyfall from the pins after once being engaged. Thus, only the sparse layerof separated individual leaves will in general be fed by the pins l3.These leaves will tend to hang if caught at one end only along the planeof the guide plates 23, due to the inclination of the conveyor throughwhich gravity causes the leaves to lay against said plates. Thus, in anapproximate manner, the leaves are held in one plane with that of theplates 23, as they slide up the same, which constitutes the first stepof aligning the tobacco leaves. It will be noted, incidentally, that theplates 23 are spaced to provide slots 24 between them for the passage ofthe pins l3, as shown in Fig. 4.

In order to strip the leaves from the pins at the delivery point,without damage to the leaves, the guide plates are directed along a pathdiverging from the conveyors 12 towards the ends of the pins, as shownin Fig. '1. Thus, the guide plates 23 gently cam the leaves away fromand off the pins, where the leaves fall into an elongated chamber formedby two paddle elements 25 of the transfer wheel 26 and by the wall 31,which forms a continuation of the guide plates 23. Inasmuch as thesuccessive leaves have already been confined to one general plane andthe horizontal paddle 25, as shown in Fig. 7, constitutes a second planetransverse to the plane of the guide plates 23 and their continuation31, the leaf in falling lays on the surface of said horizontal paddleand has now been aligned in two planes at right angles to each other,as, for example, a horizontal and vertical plane so that the lengths ofsuccessive leaves received by the transfer wheel are in substantialparallelism or alignment i. e., extending in the same direction. Ofcourse, it is understood that this alignment need only be approximate,the general requirement being that the lengths extend generally in thesame direction, so that the leaves may be delivered with their lengthsin general alignment with the cross feed, hereinafter described.

The transfer wheel 26 is mounted on a shaft 21 and is rotated in timedrelation to the shaft l8 driving the conveyors IR. A Geneva gear 28 onthe shaft 21 is operated by a roller 29 on a wheel 30 mounted on a shaft3! supported in the frame ll, which shaft is driven by a gear 32 whichmeshes in turn with a gear l5 secured to the shaft 16. The genevaarrangement is employed in order that the paddles 25 may be quicklymoved from one leaf aligning operating position, as shown in Fig. '1, toanother, so that there is no likelihood of the leaves falling while thepaddles are in intermediate position, though in most cases that would dono harm, since the leaf would probably drop to one side or the other ofthe paddle. As presently described, the shaft I6 is driven through aclutch indicated generally by 34 through which the operation of theshaft l6 can be controlled to automatically discontinue feeding, whennecessary, said clutch being similar to that disclosed in the patent to1-1. 1-1. Wheeler, No. 2,124,219.

The transfer wheel 26 is enclosed by the side walls 3! which retain theleaf as it is being transferred in its rotation to a feed chute 38opening into a scale pan 39 pivotally supported at 40 by a balance arm Hmounted on balance shaft 42. It should be noted that as the paddles 25swing downwardly towards delivery position,there is a strong tendency toalign the length of the leaves parallel to the shaft 21 as the leafslides along the surface of the wall 31 in the angle between said walland said paddle.

The aligned leaf then drops down the chute 38 onto the scale pan 39(Fig. 7) which pan is provided with a split bottom consisting of twogate sections 46a. and 46b mounted on rock shafts 44, to which aresecured levers 43.

The scale beam shaft 42, mounted on rotatable disks 42a, is providedwith a cam l! which supports a roller 48 connected at 48a to a verticalplunger rod 49 reciprocable between two sets of guide rollers 59 andconnected at its upper end to a cam lever (Fig. 3) by an adjustable link49a. This cam lever 5| is lifted at spaced intervals by a continuouslyrotating cam 55 loosely mounted on the shaft l6 and secured to sprocket52, in order to permit the over-balancing of the scale pan 39, byreleasing the pressure on the cam 47, to rotate the raised portion ofthe cam 41 from under the roller 48. Continued rotation of cam 55 tripsa ratchet 53 and permits the ratchet to engage the ratchet teeth 62a,thereby stopping the rotation of disk 62 of said clutch 34. This servesto declutch the clutch 36, as is clear from the disclosure set forth insaid Patent No. 2,124,219, permitting the shaft to come to a stop andthe feeding of the long filler leaves to terminate.

Thus, when the depressed or cutout portion 54 reaches the cam roller 53,the lever 51 through the link 52 and plunger 49 pushes the cam 41,

causing the same to rotate the shaft '12 and scale drop downwardly tothe cross feed. A spring 5! anchored at 58 on the lever 5! and suitablyattached to frame I I will maintain the roller 53 in engagement with thecam 55.

The declutching of the clutch 34 to stop the automatic filler feed iscaused as follows: An ex- I r tension 51a on the lever 5! engages anadjustable screw 59 secured to the lever 69 on the pivot pin 6| suitablysecured to the frame of the machine. Thus, when the lever 5| ispermitted by the cam 41 to lower into the cutout 54 of the cam 55,

extension em on said lever is lifted pushing up set screw 59 and liftinglever 60, together with latch piece 99a, which trips or unlatches latchpiece 630. secured to ratchet lever 63, thus permitting the ratchetlever 63, urged by spring 63b, to drop into engagement with the teeth62a of ratchet wheel 62 of the clutch, to declutch shaft l B from thedrive sprocket 52 which is connected to the main drive of the machine,causing the shaft l6 and the feed mechanism connected thereto to stop.

The ratchet wheel 62 is loosely mounted on the shaft l6 and is providedwith suitable control prongs which operate jam rollers which form thedriving connection between an outer flange of the clutch 34 connected toa sprocket 52, which is driven from the main drive of the cigar machine,and an inner driving disk which is keyed to the shaft IS, thearrangement of the parts being similar to that described in the PatentNo. 2,124,219 above referred to.

Once the clutch 34 has been declutched, feed of the long filler tobaccoleaves ceases. Thereafter the clutch will remain declutched and therewill be no feeding as long as there is a sufficiency of tobacco forforming charges at the main feed of the cigar machine. When, however,the supply of tobacco at this point gets below normal, the feeding isrestarted and the cross feed also starts. The means for accomplishingthis result is shown in Fig. 3. It consists of a link 64 connected at 65to the ratchet 63 and connected throu h an elongated slot to a lever 61ahaving a pin 65 engaging in the slot, the lever being secured to a rockshaft 67 which supports the rake 611) which serves to sweep tobacco cutfrom the forward end of the cross feed into the column of tobacco fromwhich the charge is out. As will be seen from Fig. 3, if, on the forwardmovement of the rake 61b, it encounters a mass of tobacco in the columnaheadof same such that the rake can move only a relatively limiteddistance, then the rake will not operates to disengage the ratchet 63from the ratchet teeth 62 and the feeding will not start, there beingalready enough tobacco available. If, however, the rake moves wellforward, then the pin 66 reaches the end of the slot 66a and pushes theratchet lever 63 out of engagement with the ratchet teeth. At the sametime this re-latches the latch 69a and latch-pieces 63a until such timeas the over-balancing of the scale pan stops the feeding operationagain. When the ratchet lever is withdrawn from the ratchet wheel 62adriving of the shaft I6 is resumed and feeding of the long fillertobacco leaves restarts. It may be stated that the construction of therake and cross feed and main feed is generally similar to that shown inPatent No. 1,740,571 to Wilhelm B. Bronander, issued December 24, 1929,to which reference is made for details of the construction. As clearlyset forth in said patent, the intermittent feeding cycle of the crossfeed also is omitted when the rake 6'! encounters a surplus of tobaccoand is restarted when the rake encounters an insufficiency.

Accordingly, when a sufficient weight of leaves of filler tobacco hasfallen into the scale pan 39, gates 46a and 651) open and the leavesfall between the raised gates BSc and 68b, constituting a cover 68which, when open, form a chute into the trough or channel 59 of thecross feed mechanism F and which when closed form a cover to hold downthe ends of the longitudinally extending leaves in said channel.Vertical plate '19 with notches 19A is secured to the cross feedmechanism F and serves to open the gates 26a and 46"). For the purposeof opening the cross feedcover gate 68a and 98b, lever arms TI and 72secured to said gates are provided and operated by a rack and pinion l3and M from lever l5 which is oscillated by cam H5 in timed relation tothe operation of the long filler feed mechanism and cross feed so thatthese gates are maintained in open position when tobacco is deliveredfrom the scale pan, and in closed position duringthe intermediateforward motion of the bottom belt 76 and the side belts H of the crossfeed. Preferably the feeding of the leaves to the scale pan isproportioned to deliver the desired weights of tobacco leaves theretosuccessively before the cross feed belt 76 has advanced an extentequalling the length of the tobacco leaves, thereby causing a shingledrelationship of successive weight there- Referring to Figure 11 itwill-be seen that the cross feed and lever 75 which controls themovement of gates 68a and 68b of the cross feed are operated in timedrelation from common drive shaft HE, which drives shaft Hi throughsprocket chain H8 and suitable sprockets (not shown) on shafts I80 and II5. The drive from shaft N33 is transmitted to shaft I02 by means ofsprocket chains IBI and suitable sprockets on shafts um and I02 (notshown). Once during each cycle of the machine, by means of cam H5 andcam follower H1 carried by lever 15, gates 68a and tab will be opened inorder that tobacco in scale pan 39 may be discharged into the crossfeed. It will be seen, therefore, that by means of cam H5 and camfollower H1, lever [5 will hold gates 88a and 68b open cyclically sothat whenever the scale pan dumps the charge, the cross feed willreceive it.

The cam structure 4-1 I8 for operating the gates 68a and 68b in timedrelation with the scale release mechanism is merely illustrative of onewell known form of mechanism for performing this operation andconstitutes no part of the invention in this application. It should benoted in this connection that the cutout portion 54 of the cam 55 isalso driven from the same main drive shaft Hi0 of the cigar machine, andhence operates the bottom gates 46a and 46b of the scale pan in timedrelation with the gate operating mechanism, since the opening of thesegates is ultimately controlled by said cutout through downward pressureof the rod 49 on the cam 41.

At the forward end of the cross feed, as shown in Fig. 5, there isprovided a vertically reciprocating knife carrying plunger 18a whichcarries a corrugated knife 18 and which serves to cut from the length oftobacco advanced by the cross feed a bunch length section of tobaccowhich is supported on a vertically swinging shelf 80 during the cuttingoperation. After the length has been cut, the shelf, together with anoverlying lever 31, is swung downwardly to a position wher the rake 61may sweep the cut length from said shelf onto the main feed belt 82 andinto association with the tobacco column C which is forwarded by saidmain feed through movement of said belt 82 and a star wheel 83. Thiscolumn is thus forwarded under the knife 84 which periodically cutscharges sufiicient for one bunch from the column, which charges are thendelivered by the bunch charge transfer into the rolling apron whereinthe bunch is formed.

It is noted that inasmuch as the cross feed is controlled by theoperation of the rake 61b and the starting of the feeding operation ofthe long filler leaves is also controlled by said rake, that the twowill be operated in proper timed relation as shown in Figure 11. Thecross feed will be open to receive the leaves delivered by the scalewhen the scale is in position to deliver same.

While the operation of the embodiment selected to illustrat theinvention has been described in connection with the description of theseveral parts, it may be briefly summarized as follows: The long fillertobacco leaf portions, generally the leaves with the stems removed, aredeposited in the hopper IS. The pins 13 on the conveyors l2 pick up theleaves in the hopper one by one, or occasionally two or three at a time,and deliver them into the pocket formed by the stripper sections of theguide bars 23 and the paddles 25. While I have shown pins, it is obviousthat any pointed members or edged or hooked members which will engageand carry with them the leaves, may be employed.

While I have shown the paddles 25 for aiding and straightening out theleaf as the leaf falls into an elongated pocket formed thereby, thispart while useful can be dispensed with, the successive leaves beingarranged with their lengths generally parallel by simply dropping themthrough a narrow elongated opening such as provided at the upper edge ofthe pocket, or such as would be provided by the vertical chute wallsbeing wide enough to accommodate the width of the leaf but not wideenough to accommodate a leaf extending lengthwise, to arrange the leaveswith their lengths parallel as they drop through to the scale pan andcross feed below. One reason for providing the paddle is to furnish abare smooth surface along which the lower end of a leaf falling at anangle one end first may slide said end so that the end moves to aposition nearer the end of the aligning chamber. The leaves dropped bythe rapidly indexed paddles 25 then fall onto the scale pan Mia-46boverbalancing the arm of the scale 4|. raised portion 47a of the cam 41swings out from under the cam follower 48, the pressure of the camfollower on the inwardly inclined cam surfac forces the scale pan downthe rest of the way. The scale pan is balanced by a suitable weight 4lawhich is adjustable radially on a threaded arm M1) on the scale shaft42. Thus, this weight may be set for any desired weight of leaves. Thispan is not intended to weigh th leaves exactly but is for the purpose ofproviding a predetermined excess of leaves, and is set to feed asubstantial but controlled excess of leaf weight over that required bythe cross feed to insure that there will always be a sufficient weightof leaves deposited. Since the Weight of the cam follower 49 and thepressure produced by the spring 51 will hold the delicately balancedscale arm (1., 4th against rotation, it is important that this can beperiodically released, and this is done by providing the continuouslyrotating cam member 55 with a series of depressions 55a into which afollower 53 drops periodically. Thus the raised portion between thedepressions lifts the cam follower and releases the cam, yet as long asthe cam follower on its downward movement feels the raised portion 47a,no change in the feeding cycle occurs.

When, however, the raised portion of the cam 41 passes from under th camfollower 48 and the scale pan is depressed, nothing holds the lever 5!in upward position except the cam 55, and when the cutout portion 54thereof is reached, the lever drops, terminating the operating cycle ofthe automatic long filler feed through rotation of shaft 15, as alreadydescribed.

The lifting of the ratchet lever 63 starts the feeding cycle through therelatching of the latch 66a and the latch pieces 6311. holding theratchet 63 out of declutching or drive stopping position on the ratchetwheel 82.

It is noted that even though the return of the scale pan after dumpingof the leaves through over-balancing of the same by the weight 41a,

otherwise places the parts in condition to restart he feeding motion ofthe parts, feeding will not be started until the rake Gib lifts thelatch 63. This is because lifting of the cam follower 48a and lever 5|,and in consequence the lowering When the of the latch piece 60, isinsufficient to hold the ratchet 63 out of drive stopping position untilsaid ratchet is lifted through link 64 by the rake 61b encountering aninsufiiciency of tobacco in the column C. Since the rake 6112 alsocontrols the operation of the cross feed, the two will be started intimed relation so that the cross feed and the automatic long fillerfeeding devices will operate in proper synchronism.

In connection with the cross feed, it is noted that as also disclosed inPatent No. 1,740,571, the cross feed consists of three sets of belts,the operative runs I1 and I of which form a channel into which thetobacco leaves are deposited. As shown in Fig. 10, the belts I! aredriven by pulleys 81 and 88 on shafts 89 and 90 respectively, which aredriven in turn through bevel gears SI and 92, and thence by gears 93 and04 through shaft 95 and sprocket 97, from which a chain extends to thesame drive controlled by the rake, as is disclosed in said Patent No.1,740,571.

It is noted further that the sprocket 52 and cam 55 are driven from themain drive of the cigar machine, as for example a shaft I00. The crossfeed, for example, the shaft I02 of my construction corresponding to thecrank shaft 79 of said Patent No. 1,740,571, may be driven from the sameshaft I00 so as to insure their being driven in proper timed relation.For convenience in correlating the cross feed of Patent No. 1,740,571with rake 61b and its cooperating structure, it is noted that the part82 of the patent is the sam part that is shown at 610. in Fig. 3 and myrake 61b is similarly actuated by a counter-weight (not shown) whenreleased by a cam-actuated arm, not shown, loosely mounted on the shaftB'I whereon the rake G'Ib is fastened. The driving connections betweenthe cross feed and the long filler hopper feed are shown in Fig. 11. Asalready noted, the sprocket 52 which drives the long filler leaf feed isconnected by a chain 23 to a sprocket on the drive shaft I00. A chainIOI connected to a sprocket on the shaft I00 drives sprocket mm on theshaft I02, from which a connecting rod I03 actuated by a crank I03a onthe shaft I02 actuates the drive shaft I07 of the cross feed. This driveshaft is provided with a bevel gear I08 rotating a shaft I09 and drivinga chain III through a sprocket III] which in turn drives sprocket 91 onshaft 95 shown in Fig. 10. The control of the cross feed from the rake61b, which as already stated also controls the long filler hopper feed,is by means of a connecting rod IIZ secured to a crank 61a (see Fig. 3).This connecting rod IIZ corresponds to the connecting rod 83 in theBronander Patent No. 1,740,571 and, in the same manner a knock-out pieceI I3 trips a pawl I on the oscillating arm I04 into engagement with theratchet I06 and thus initiates the intermittent forward feedingmovements which are terminated when a knock-out pin (not shown)disengages the pawl from the ratchet.

The leaves dropped by the scale pan 40a are guided by the open covers68a and 68b of the cross feed I6, II, the leaves being dropped in thebroad portion between the rear runs of the belts H, as shown in Fig. 5.The forward runs of said belts are positioned by the pulleys 81 and 88closer together than the rear ones and hence there is a sidewisecompacting of the leaves in addition to the normal vertical compactingprior to their passing to the corrugated cutter I8. It will be notedthat the cross feed side belts II are provided with rear runs Ilatraveling over pulleys 17b and and with forward somewhat narrower runsIId passing over pulleys He and 81 and B8. Compressor foot 79a is shownbetween the runs 1111 which is similar in all respects to that disclosedin the Bronander Patent No. 1,740,571, above referred to.

What is claimed is:

1. In a cigar bunch machine, the combination with a main feed forfeeding a layer of long filler tobacco for cigar bunches, a cross feedfor delivering filler transversely of said main feed a bulk source ofsupply of said filler, and means for separating the leaf portions fromsaid supply and delivering them to said cross feed, said means includinga measurer for measuring the amount of leaves delivered to said crossfeed, and control devices actuated by said measurer arranged to stop theoperation of said means when a predetermined quantity of tobacco hasbeen fed for delivery to said cross feed.

2. In a cigar bunch machine, the combination with a bulk source ofsupply of long filler tobacco, of means for accumulating a column oftobacco from Which tobacco portions are to be separated, means forremoving tobacco from said source and assembling it for delivery to saidcolumn, and control devices coacting with said removing means to stopthe operation of said removing means when more than a predeterminedexcess of tobacco over that required for forming the bunch has beenremoved. I

3. In a cigar bunch machine, the combination with a source of supply oflong filler tobacco, of means for accumulating a column of tobacco fromwhich tobacco portions are to be separated, means for removing tobaccofrom said source for delivery to said column, and control devicescoacting with said removing means to stop the,

operation of said removing means when more than a predetermined excessof tobacco over that required for forming the bunch has been removed,said control devices including a weighing than a predetermined excess oftobacco over that required for forming the bunch has been forwarded,said control devices including a weighing scale for weighing tobaccoremoved from said source, and connections between said scale and saidforwarding means for stopping the operation of said forwarding meanswhen a predetermined excess of tobacco over that required for formingthe bunch has been received by said scale.

5. In a cigar bunch machine, the combination with a source of supply oftobacco, of means for accumulating a column of tobacco from whichtobacco portions are to be separated, means for forwarding tobacco fromsaid source for delivery to said column, and control devices coactingwith said forwarding means to stop the operation of said forwardingmeans when more than a predetermined excess of tobacco over thatrequired for forming the bunch has been forwarded, said control devicesincluding a weighing scale for weighing tobacco removed from saidsource, and connections between said scale and said forwarding means forstopping the operation of said forwarding means when a predeterminedexcess of tobacco over thatcrequired for forming the bunch has beenreceived by said scale, and means engaging said column coacting withsaid removing means to start the operation thereof when the amount oftobacco in said column is decreased below a certain amount.

6. A tobacco leaf feed comprising in combination a bulk source of supplyof long filler tobacco leaves, a conveyor forming one side of saidsupply and against which part of the leaves in said supply rest,elements on said conveyor arranged to engage and carry with the conveyorsubstantially individual leaves from said source of supply, and rotatingleaf brushing elements traveling in the direction of movement of theconveyor but at a greater peripheral speed.

7. A feed for long filler tobacco leaves including an endless conveyor,forwardly directed pins on said conveyor for impaling and forwarding thetobacco leaves, and means for sweeping off surplus leaves from saidconveyor including sweeping elements traveling in an endless moving pathin the direction of inclination of the pins at a greater speed.

8. The combination with a cigar bunch machine of a cross feed of a longfiller cigar bunch machine, of means for weighing long filler tobaccoand delivering the same in weighed increments onto said cross feed withthe lengths of the leaves extending lengthwise of the cross feed.

9. The method of forming long filler tobacco charges which consists inweighing the tobacco leaves to get successive increments of apredetermined Weight and laying the weighed increments successively inshingled relation to form a continuous stream of tobacco from whichportions for forming charges may be cut.

10. The combination with a long filler cigar machine having a crossfeed, of a tobacco leaf carrier for aligning and delivering tobaccoleaves in substantial alignment, a weighing scale for receiving thealigned tobacco leaves, and mechanism coacting with said scale andcarrier successively to deliver weighed increments of said alignedleaves to said cross feed.

11. In a long filler cigar bunch machine, the combination with a crossfeed constructed and arranged to receive and forward an endwise-movingstream of long filler tobacco leaves deposited in said feed with theleaves extending lengthwise of the feed, and covermeans for said feedarranged to overlie the leaves at the position at which they aredeposited to hold down the same as they are forwarded, said meansincluding a hinged door hinged on an axis parallel to the length of thecross feed.

12. A cross feed for cigar machines, having a tobacco receiving channeland a hinged cover element hinged on an axis arranged lengthwise of saidfeed, and means for intermittently operating said cover to open andclose the feed to first receive and then hold down tobacco depositedtherein.

13. A cross feed for cigar machines having a tobacco receiving channeland a hinged cover element hinged on an axis arranged lengthwise of saidfeed, and means for intermittently operating said cover to open andclose the feed to firstreceive and then hold down tobacco depositedtherein, said cover being. arranged when open to act as a chute toguidethe: deposited tobacco into said channel.

14. The combination with mechanism for feeding a stream of long fillertobacco leaves for forming long fillerv bunch charges, of fillerforwarding devices for forwarding substantially full length tobaccoleaves, and means including a weighing scale with a leaf receiving panof substantially the same length as the leaves arranged to receive saidleaves from said forwarding devices and to accumulate the same until apredetermined weight of tobacco has been received, for deliveringweighed increments of tobacco to said mechanism.

15. The combination with mechanism for forming long filler bunchcharges, of filler forwarding devices for forwarding alignedsubstantially full length tobacco leaves, means including a weighingscale of a size to receive the leaves without crumpling thereof arrangedto receive said leaves from said forwarding devices and to accumulatethe same until a predetermined weight of tobacco has been received, fordelivering weighed increments of tobacco to said mechanism, and meansfor starting and stopping said forwarding devices, and connectionsbetween said. scale and said means for. stopping said forwarding deviceswhen said predetermined weight of tobacco has been received on thescale.

16. Thecombination witha cigar machine cross feed having a leaf.receiving channel, of means for depositing tobaccozleaves into saidcross feed, and guides. extending along. said channel for directing theleaves deposited by said means into said channel, said: guides: beingmovable to and from a position in which they cover the cross feedchannel.

17. In a cigar machine. having mechanism for forming long filler bunchcharges, and filler forwarding. devices for forwarding long filler leafportions, means including a weighingscale arranged to receive leavesfrom said forwarding devices and to accumulate the same until apredetermined weight of tobacco has been received for delivering weighedincrements of tobacco to said mechanism, said weighing scale including ascale shaft, a cam on said scale shaft, a cam follower resting on saidcam, connections between said cam follower and said filler forwardingdevices for controlling the operation of the same, and means forintermittently lifting the cam followerto release the cam and therebypermit rotationofcthe scale shaft unimpeded by the pressure of the camfollower on said cam.

18. In amachine having mechanism for forming long filler bunch charges,and filler forwardingv devices'for forwarding long filler leaf portions,means. including a weighing scale arranged to receive leaves: from saidforwarding devices and to accumulate the sameuntil a predeterminedweightof tobacco has been received for delivering weighed increments oftobacco to said mechanism, said weighing scale including a scale shaft,a cam on said: scale shaft,.a cam follower resting on said cam,connections between said cam follower and said filler forwarding devicesfor controlling the operation of the same, and means for intermittentlylifting the cam follower to release the cam and thereby permit rotationof 'the scale shaft unimpeded by the pressure of the cam follower onsaid cam, said cam follower lifter comprising a cam having a series ofdepressions in the same.

19. In acigar bunch machine, thecombination with a main-feed havingmeans for forwarding a layer of tobacco of a width substantially equalto the length of the bunch, of a relatively narrow feed channel, ahopper adapted to contain a supply of long filler tobacco of greaterlength than the bunch, a relatively long narrow chute having side wallsextending along said channel on either side thereof for directing thelong tobacco into said channel while retaining the filler in a positionin which the long dimension of the filler portions extends lengthwise ofthe channel, and means cooperating with said hopper and said chute todeliver said long filler tobacco from the hopper into said chute withthe long dimension extending lengthwise of the channel to form acontinuous stream of tobacco therein, and means for cutting bunchlengths from the forward end of said channel and transferring them ontothe main feed with their lengths extending transversely of the mainfeed.

20. The combination with a feed for feeding a layer of long fillertobacco for cigar bunches to a cigar machine, of a bulk source of supplyof said filler, means for separating the leaf portions from said supplyand delivering them to said feed in amounts forming a column of tobaccofrom which bunch charges may be separated, said means including ameasurer for measuring the amount of the leaf portions delivered to saidfeed, control devices actuated by said measurer arranged to stop theoperation of part of said means when a predetermined quantity of tobaccohas been fed for delivery to said feed, and mechanism controlled by saidfeed for restarting said separating means when there is less than apredetermined quantity of tobacco in said column.

21. An automatic long filler cigar tobacco feed comprising incombination a hopper of such size as to hold a supply of long fillertobacco consisting of leaf portions of substantially greater 5 thanbunch length, of a leaf carrier movable into engagement with some of theleaves in said hopper for taking individual leaf portions from saidhopper substantially one at a time, a device coacting with said leafcarrier to remove surplus leaves which may be entangled with saidleaves, means for assembling said substantially individual leaves in acolumn, and means for separating bunch charges from said column.

22. The method of aligning whole tobacco leaves which consists in movingsubstantially separate leaves or small groups of leaves over a guidesurface to locate the successive leaves, generally in one plane, andthereafter dropping said leaves and assembling them on a flat generallyhorizontal plane surface extending transversely of said first mentionedsurface while preventing substantial movement of the long dimension ofthe leaves out of parallelism with the first mentioned plane tosubstantially align said successive leaves or groups of leaves depositedon said horizontal surface.

23. A tobacco leaf feed comprising in combination a hopper constructedand arranged to hold a mass of long filler tobacco leaves ofsubstantially greater than bunch length, and an inclined conveyorforming one side of said hopper and against which part of the leaves insaid supply rest by gravity, said conveyor having elements adapted to bemoved upwardly from the bottom of the hopper and out'of the top of saidhopper, and means for actuating said conveyor so as to move saidelements thereon arranged to engage and carry substantially individualleaves from said source of supply, and means for stripping said leavesfrom the conveyor after they have been conveyed away from said hopper.

24. The combination with cigar bunch charge separating means, of meansfor aligning elongated long filler leaf portions comprising opposedWalls providing a narrow elongated opening between them of a widthsubstantially less than the length of the leaves, means for droppingsaid leaf portions through said opening to arrange the leaf portionswith their lengths extending in the same direction, mechanism forforwarding the aligned leaves to said charge separating means whilemaintaining said leaf portions in aligned relation, and devicescooperating with said leaf dropping means and said forwarding means toarranged the leaf portions in shingled relationship on said leafforwarding mechanism.

HENRY I-I. WHEELER.

